AuthorTopic: MX5-473: Tur Salanus (Read 4718 times)

| MX5-473 is currently under survey by Atlantis. Discovered on the Lantean data base only recently, it is a planet similar to our own Earth, although perhaps not quite as old. It is the fifth planet out from its Sun, a little smaller than Earth, it contains life in the form of mammals, bird life and some reptiles. No intelligent life forms have yet to be discovered.

The Stargate is situated on the larger southern continent, some three thousand miles south of the equator in a temperate land mass, heavily forested, hilly and has large tracts of tall grasslands. Doctor Zelenka and his team, recently discovered the wreck of a very old space vessel on the planet some distance from the Stargate.

Whether the Lanteans ever occupied the area is unknown, but it was named in the data base |

At least the timing was right. From the looks of things it was early morning as Cam stepped out of the worm hole and down the few steps leading from the Stargate. He no sooner scanned the horizon, when a large flock of birds took flight from the tall grass nearby. It did startle him just a bit, but not enough to unnerve him. His eyes were drawn to the wreck on the hilltop in the distance, even from here you could see the shape of it.

He took note of everything, taking in key points. Once satisfied all was well, he radioed back. "All's well, come on through." That was all he needed to say.

Juliet stepped through the gate as soon as Mitchell gave them the OK, and before taking her time to look at her first alien landscape in the Pegasus Galaxy she turned back to wait for Dr. Olofsson, surprised by her unexpected show of knowledge of foreign languages"Wow, non sapevo che parlassi italiano così bene!"

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On a second thought, though, she classified that as another attempt to impress her to become friends immediately, and that thing annoyed her even more: she didn't have anything against the blonde vet, and, in time, she could have accepted her as her friend, but that excess of sociality was making Giulia doubt of her intentions. In her experience, people are quick to judge and slow to trust, and she played accordingly, her straightforward nature making her subject to a rapid dislike from others and an evenly rapid distrust from herself.

Shrugging, she finally turned around and took an amazed look at the landscape: lush vegetation as far as the eye could see, grassland as tall as her, and maybe even more bordering a narrow path climbing up a hill, and, atop of that hill, she saw it: the wreckage of that infamous alien ship."Ehi, is that where we're going? she said to the colonel, pionting her right finger at the horizon.lowering her voice she added: "Great, hours of walking uphill in an alien forest, I'm sure it won't be tiring at all.... Welcome to the Jungle..."

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" Just because I was born for a purpose does not mean I have to resign myself to that fate."

"God I hate that." Melinda said as she came through the gate walking backwards, somehow she had turned herself around and the shivering as she made her exit didn't do her initial mood any better either. But it was Juliet's words that calmed her and brought her back to reality. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even realise....my father is a diplomat, I kind of gravitated towards Italian long ago, don't really know why, I just adore the language and the people." That was true for her, especially considering as a young girl she spent the better part of eight years in that lovely country. "Don't hesitate to slap me if I seem a little too pushy Juliet, I've been alone for quite a while now since I've been here, my social skills are obviously lacking."

Her own eyes were drawn upwards, she could see the outline clearly and echoing her companion her words were the same. "Wow....on both scores, that is some incline." As she lowered her view, something else caught her gaze. Melinda ran past Cam and knelt not far from the end of the steps. A huge pile of dung had her interest now and soon she had her pack off.

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Far Dareis Mai

Life is a dream — that knows no shade.Life is a dream — of pain and woe.A dream from which — we pray to wake.A dream from which — we wake and go

The support team, consisting of just two, came through moments after Olofsson, in typical fashion, both men were on guard the very second they had orientated themselves. Cam looked back at them, not wanting to give Hopman an opportunity to shoot his mouth off, he had to isolate the man; he knew he was going to be trouble. "Corporal, you have gate duty. Make sure we don't have any damn surprises."

Hopman took the hint, sourly with a grunt and thankfully kept his mouth shut, other than to reply. "Sir!" Frank gave him an equally sour look, gathered himself then walked down the ramp to stand near Juliet.

"What is 'she' doing?" He asked, inclining his head towards Doctor Oloffson. All he could see was a huge pile of poo and the smell was already waffling up his nostrils.

Cam heard the comment, he was curious as well, his stride taking him in between Melinda and Juliet. He crouched beside the young Dane. "Um, Doc, is that important? I mean I get your field of research, but dung?" He had to cover his nose this close to it, he even as a farm boy had never seen anything so large.

At least that woman understood.... and that made Juliet feel more relaxed."Oh, well, I'm not that used to making friends too, most of the people tend to find bits of my personality rather... annoying... she said shrugging.

She smiled in delight when she realized that that rude marine wasn't going to bother her for probably the rest of the mission, and looked at him with a sarcastic smile, turning her hands with the palm skywards as to say this is what you get, man

She then turned back to her side to continue her previous talk with Olofsson, only to discover that the vet wasn't there anymore, but a couple of meters away kneeling on the biggest pile of poo that she have ever seen. How in the world could that girl stand that stench?!"Unbelievable!""Are you planning to study that revolting stuff for long, Melinda? 'Cause I'm not that eager to disturb you in your ... interesting...research..... I have an amazing spaceship to scan!" She tried to make her jealous of the coolness of the stuff she came to that planet for, but she didn't believe she could do it: after all she might imagine what kind of information could be gathered from that disgusting thing.

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" Just because I was born for a purpose does not mean I have to resign myself to that fate."

"Elephantidae!" Melnida said excitedly. Her pack was open and a speciman tube was in one hand. The other held a wooden spatula with which she delicately spoon a decent dollop of the poo off and slid into the tube, then capped it. That went into her bag and the spatula she ditched. Giving Hopman a look that said, 'Yeah that's about all you are worth'. She could hear Juliet's voice, but for a moment she was still feeling elated. Then reality came back to her.

"Oh....I seem to be spending my time aplogising don't I?" She stood, zipped up her pack and hoisted it back on her shoulder. "I think we'll do well Juliet, I'm quite much the same way. I struggle to make friends and struggle harder to keep them. So my work often becomes my lover.....that's all I had to do." She added at the end, looking at the dung pile. "The animal that did that, would be immense, probably in the range of seven to ten tonne. It is a species of Elephant, that much I know. Did Radek's notes say anything that you recall?" Her eyes looked up the hill, something in that alien ship was drawing her as well. "Come on, we'll talk on the way. Colonel Mitchell, sorry for not answering you then. But yes it was and I'm finished her for now."

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Far Dareis Mai

Life is a dream — that knows no shade.Life is a dream — of pain and woe.A dream from which — we pray to wake.A dream from which — we wake and go

At least the girl had enough sense not to keep everyone waiting while she did her thing; that showed manners. Cam had experience baby sitting eggheads before and for the most part, men or women they had a rather high opinion of themselves, but these two appeared to be the total opposite, considerate and surprisingly charming. That alone had taken them off his nerd list, a list that had grown over the years. "Thanks Doc, I do appreciate it. I'm not even gonna ask how you know the species either. Let's get this mission going. Jardine, lead us out. I'll follow the good doctors." He nodded politely to both of them, turned towards the gate to give his last order to Hopman.

"Keep your radio open son. I want to know the second anything happens."

Frank hoisted his pack and weapon, then started up the slow slope. The path cleared by the previous team was wide enough for two abreast and free of hazards. It'll be an easy walk. He started out, keeping in mind those behind him.

"Yes sir." Hopman replied, dropping his own gear near the edge of the gate, then promptly sat down with his back against it. From his position, he should be able to see just about anything for about five hundred metres around. This was just going to be another boring day for him.

Juliet was relieve that the poo-stop didn't last long, that terrible smell was starting to give her headache, so she immediately moved after Jardine when Mitchell ordered them to move out.

When Olofsson reached her side she anwared her questions, shaking her head."No, I'm sorry. Thruth is, I haven't had much time to read the whole report, so I basically skipped the details on the planet, local fauna in particular.... tough I'm sure I would have noticed if there was mention of packs of huge elephants, mammooth, or even dinosaurs for that matter...."But, if there were elephants's dung around the gates there had to be elephants nearby, right?"Let's just hope there won't be any around the wreck site, a pack of galloping skyscraper-sized angry animals would mean trouble, wouldn't it?"

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" Just because I was born for a purpose does not mean I have to resign myself to that fate."

"Every species has their own distinct odor Colonel." Melnida told him quite frankly as she began walking. Her answer could be taken many ways of course, particularly with men. She still felt irritated by the Marine. She continued the conversation with Juliet as if it were just another day.

"Doesn't really matter, I'm sure I'm going to be writing my own report soon enough. I can say this much though, if that animal is as big as I think it is, I would not like to meet it predator as I am sure there must be one. Its just the natural order of things." She shrugged at the thought. "Hopefully, if that's the case, that wreck can offer some protection Juliet."

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Far Dareis Mai

Life is a dream — that knows no shade.Life is a dream — of pain and woe.A dream from which — we pray to wake.A dream from which — we wake and go

Both Cam and Frank looked at one another, curious, if not slightly offended gazes at Melinda. Cam even went to the extremes of pretending to smell his armpits. "Right Doc, I get your point." His tone said as much and he'd be more careful in choosing his words in the future. "Lead us out Frank. Ladies, we'll need all ears and eyes sharp, this tall grass is an ideal place for an ambush by either beast or enemy." Cam's hand swept suggestively around, drawing their attention to the head high foliage. He'd never seen grass as tall as this, nor as thick.

Frank took point and began the long climb upwards, all the while wary of his surroundings. Casually he remarked by turning his head slightly. "Doctor Olofsson, you were joking about predators weren't you?"

"Yes, Melinda, I think it will, but only once we get there. But who will protect the ship?" Juliet said back to the other woman. She relly hoped they wouldn't come to that, according to that report that wreckage was one of the most amazing thing ever, and hopefully one of the most important discovery since the expedition landed on that quadrant of the Pegasus Galaxy.

She then turned to Jardine, a bit annoyed from his doubts. "No, man, I don't think she is... you lack of insight if you can't imagine an Elaphant getting hunted..." she answerd him for Dr.Olofsson in a pretty serious tone.

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" Just because I was born for a purpose does not mean I have to resign myself to that fate."

Now that is exactly what she would have said herself, Mel beamed in delight, one of those very rare smiles she was capable of. Her father and mother woud have been so happy to see that, as for most of the young Olofsson's life since she hit her teens had been a world of frowns and deep moments of depression; something she had worked extremely hard at to be rid of.

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"For hver handling er der en lige modsat reaktion." Melinda muttered in her native tongue. "Something Einstein said, it applies in the natural sciences as well. I'm sorry, I should have said it in English, but you know it was just about life having balances and checks. If grazers like these elephants or whatever didn't have predators, none of this.." She pointed to the grasslands and trees. "..would exist and niether would they. Sometimes I wish man had a predator, we're doing a good job of making our own wastelands back home." She lamented that fact so often, seeing the destruction human kind had wrought on their own planet.

She looked up at the ship and Juliet's question gave her the answer she needed. "Animals are perculiar. I think they would steer clear of something like that. Genetic memories. I would imagine when that thing crashed here, there was a huge explosion; that would be imbedded in them forever."

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Far Dareis Mai

Life is a dream — that knows no shade.Life is a dream — of pain and woe.A dream from which — we pray to wake.A dream from which — we wake and go

"The question was rhetorical Doctor, I think in hindsight I could have worded it somewhat differently. I meant more, that there weren't any predators in the immediate vacinity." Frank told her, not that he was worried, most of the wildlife he had encountered on other off world missions, usually bolted when a weapon was discharged. Usually.

Cam looked at the three of them, while he encouraged discussion on a mission, he preferred it was done while they were moving. At this rate it would be sundown before they reached the wreck. "Move along guys, if there are some nasties around, I for one don't want to be on their menu. Doctor Montale, I'll let you two ladies explore the ship with Jardine, I'll keep outside guard myself and we'll keep in radio contact."

Without hesitation, or waiting for an answer, Frank led the party up the slow hill. He alone could have made it in perhaps less than five minutes at a decent trot, but he allowed for the others, given the packs they were carrying. Soon though, they had reached the summit and the whole of the protuding section of the ship was before him. He whistled loudly. "This looks like some mother of a ship. I'd say the section we can see was probably some kind of observation area or an astrodome; the very upper part of the ship." He went on his knees and bent inwards to see more. "It's vast sir, there is a ramp leading down."

Cam waited behind both women, he could hear Frank and wanted to get up there quickly, but he also wanted to make sure they got there safely to. "We all have torches?" He checked his own in the vest and knew he had spares in his own pack. "We'll need them. Be there shortly Jardine." Frank by now already had his in hand, shining it down even deeper into the ship.

« Last Edit: August 19, 2014, 01:49:58 AM by RogueRanger »

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Far Dareis Mai

Life is a dream — that knows no shade.Life is a dream — of pain and woe.A dream from which — we pray to wake.A dream from which — we wake and go